> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://easify.gitbook.io/easify-product-options/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://easify.gitbook.io/easify-product-options/product-personalizer-live-preview/apply-image-effects-for-file-upload.md). # Apply Image Effects for File Upload {% hint style="info" %} This feature is available from the **Premium** **plan**. {% endhint %} Turn the photos your customers upload into finished artwork — automatically. With Image Effects, a snapshot of someone's dog becomes an embroidery-style design, a pencil sketch, or an engraved plaque the moment it's uploaded, right there in the live preview. ## How It Works Image Effects live inside a [**File Upload**](/easify-product-options/guide-to-options/28-option-types/file-upload.md) option. Once set up, effects are applied to the customer's photo right after they upload it. There are two ways to run it, set by the **How the effect is applied** setting: * **Fixed effect** — you pick one effect, and every photo uploaded to that option gets it automatically. Customers see no picker at all. * **Customer selects** — you offer a set of effects, and customers choose which one they want. Great for stores that sell the same item in multiple styles. Some effects run entirely inside Easify and not required additional charges. Others are powered by outside services and need you to connect an account first.

Effect	What it does	Needs a connection?
Embossed	Raised, textured relief look. Adjustable strength, white level, blend, and color.	No
Grayscale	Clean black-and-white conversion.	No
Face cutout	Isolates the face from the photo.	Cutout.pro
Cartoon selfie	Turns a portrait into a cartoon illustration.	Cutout.pro
Embroidered	Rebuilds the image as visible thread stitches.	OpenAI, Black Forest Labs (Flux), or Gemini
Engraved	Recessed carving look, with your choice of engraving color and surface material.	OpenAI, Black Forest Labs (Flux), or Gemini
Sketch	Hand-drawn pencil linework and shading.	OpenAI, Black Forest Labs (Flux), or Gemini
Watercolor	Translucent painted washes based on the original colors.	OpenAI, Black Forest Labs (Flux), or Gemini
Custom effect	Your own effect, prompt described in your own words.	OpenAI, Black Forest Labs (Flux), or Gemini

### Step 1: Connect your AI Image Generation Providers {% hint style="info" %} 📝 **Note:** The two free effects work out of the box. If you only plan to use Embossed and Grayscale, **you can skip Step 1 & Step 2 entirely** and go to [Step 3](#step-3-create-option-set-with-file-upload). {% endhint %} Before you can use the AI or Cutout.Pro effects, you need an API key from the service that powers them. You will use **your own account** with each provider — you're billed directly by them, and you stay in full control of your usage and spending. Here's a summary of what each service costs **(August 2026 Update)**:

Provider	Available models	Cost per image	Pricing
OpenAI (Recommended)	Image 1 Mini Image 1 Image 1.5 Image 2	$0.006 to $0.25 or more, depending on the model, image size, and image quality you choose. See OpenAI pricing calculator to estimate your cost.	OpenAI uses a prepaid billing model — you buy credits into your account before you can generate anything. The minimum you can buy, for your first purchase or any manual top-up, is $5.
Black Forest Labs (Flux) (Recommended)	FLUX.2 [klein] 9B FLUX.2 [klein] 4B FLUX.2 [flex] FLUX.2 [pro] FLUX.2 [max]	Around $0.014 to $0.07 per megapixel, depending on the model and image size. Use Flux's official pricing calculator to estimate your cost.	With Flux, 1 credit = $0.01 USD. The minimum purchase is $10 for 1000 credits.
Gemini	Nano Banana Nano Banana Pro Nano Banana 2 Nano Banana 2 Lite	$0.03 to $0.2 or more per image, depending on the image quality you choose. See Gemini's official pricing plan for the full breakdown.	Gemini also uses a prepaid method — you buy credits into your account first. The minimum purchase is $10.
Cutout.Pro	CutoutPro default model	Pay-as-you-go ($0.047–$0.166/credit) or subscription ($0.048–$0.063/credit). See CutoutPro pricing breakdown.	5 free credits For Face cutout: Each successful API call costs 1 credit For Cartoon Selfie: Each successful API call costs 2 credits.

> 📝 **Note:** > > * AI image pricing varies by **model** and **output resolution:** a larger, higher-quality image costs more than a small one. Check your provider's pricing page before you go live. > * Creating a key is free everywhere. You're only charged when an effect actually runs. > > Don't see the provider you're looking for? **Chat with us** and we'll be happy to look into integrating it! #### **OpenAI** 1. Create an account at [platform.openai.com](https://platform.openai.com/) and verify your account. 2. Go to [**Dashboard → API keys**](https://platform.openai.com/api-keys) in the left sidebar. 3. Click **Create new secret key**, give it a name such as "Easify", and click **Create**.

3. **Copy the key immediately** — OpenAI shows it only once, and afterwards you'll see just the last few characters. 4. Add a payment method under **Billing** and start buying credits. Keys without billing set up will fail when an effect runs.

#### **Black Forest Labs (Flux)** 1. Sign in at [dashboard.bfl.ai](https://dashboard.bfl.ai/) and confirm your email. A default organization and project are created for you automatically. 2. Go to the Credits to purchase credits to your account. You can buy $10 for 1000 credits first to test around on your store.

3. Open your project and go to **API Keys** in the sidebar

4. Click **Add Key**, name it, and **copy it right away** once created — it's shown only once.

#### **Gemini** 1. Sign in to [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/) with your Google account and accept the terms. 2. Go to **Dashboard**

3. In the API Keys tab, click **Create API key** and choose to create it in a new project (simplest) or an existing one.

4. Name your key and create it. Then copy the key. Unlike other providers, Google lets you copy it again later from the same page.

#### **Cutout.Pro** Log into your Cutout.Pro account and go to [**Account → Secret Key**](https://www.cutout.pro/user/secret-key) to copy your key ![](https://easify.gitbook.io/easify-product-options/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Feasifyapps.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F05%2Fcutoutpro-1024x453.png\&width=768\&dpr=3\&quality=100\&sign=1ae96ddb\&sv=2) ### Step 2: Connect your services in Easify **Go to:** Easify Product Options → Settings → **API connections**

1. Find the provider you want to connect to enable special image effects. 2. Paste your API key into the field for each provider you want to use. 3. Click **Save**. ### Step 3: Create option set with File upload * Open the Option Set you want to configure and add a **File Upload** option.

* In the option's Basic Settings, set **File type** to **Image files**.

* Go to the **Product Personalizer** tab, enable Live preview.

### Step 4: Choose how the effect is applied In the **Image effects** section, switch the feature on and choose your mode under **How the effect is applied**.

#### Fixed effect Select an effect applied to this file upload. Every photo from customers will get the same effect.

#### Customer selects Click as many effect as you want to offer. Customers will see them all and they will decide by themselves what effect they want for the images. You can manage all the selected effects in the below table.

* **Drag** rows to set the order the effects appear on your product page. * **Rename** each effect to whatever language suits your store. * **Upload your own swatch image** for each effect so customers can see the style at a glance. A sample of the effect applied to a real photo works far better than an abstract icon. * **Select the image model** you want to use for special AI effects. ### Step 5 (Optional): Create a custom effect If none of the built-in styles match what you sell, click **+ Add custom effect**.

1. Give the effect a **name** — this is what appears on the tile and, in Customer selects mode, what customers see. 2. Choose a **model** from your connected providers. 3. Describe the transformation you want **in the prompt field** — the material, the finish, the level of detail, anything that matters for your product. 4. Save. Your custom effect now appears to your customers.

### Step 6 (Optional): Configure the effects Some effects has its own advanced setting. You can find them by clicking the edit icon on the effect.

A summary of each effect's additional configurations:

Effect	Auto-remove background	Other settings
Grayscale	N/A	N/A
Embossed	N/A	Strength · White Level · Blend · Color
Embroidered	✅	N/A
Engraved	✅	Engraving color · Surface material
Sketch	✅	N/A
Watercolor	✅	N/A
Face cutout	N/A	N/A
Cartoon selfie	N/A	N/A

**Auto-remove background** Available on every AI effect. Switch it on and the background of the customer's photo is removed before the effect is applied — ideal when you're printing onto a garment, a mug, or a transparent surface and only want the subject. Leave it off when the whole scene matters, like a landscape photo on a canvas print. **Embossed settings**

Setting	What it does
Strength	How pronounced the raised relief looks. Higher values deepen the effect.
White level	How bright the raised highlights are.
Blend	How much of the original photo shows through the embossed result.
Color	The color of the embossed surface. Match it to the material you print on.

**Engraved settings**

Setting	What it does
Engraving color	The color of the carved lines.
Surface material	The material being engraved — try `wood`, `leather`, `brass`, or anything else you sell on.

### Step 7: Preview with a Test image Before you publish, upload a **Test image** to see the effect applied to a real photo right in the canvas. Upload a sample photo in the Test image field and the preview generates automatically. Your customers never see this photo — it's purely for testing. * In **Fixed effect** mode, the canvas shows your selected effect applied to the test photo. * In **Customer selects** mode, the canvas shows whichever effect is set as the **Default value**. To preview a different one, temporarily change the Default value to that effect. {% hint style="info" %} 📝 **Worth understanding before you test:** * **Each preview of an AI or Cutout.pro effect costs credits on your provider account.** Free effects (Embossed, Grayscale) render instantly at no cost. * **AI results aren't repeatable.** Running the same photo through the same effect twice will produce two slightly different images. Treat your preview as representative of the style, not as the *exact file every customer will receive*. {% endhint %} ## What Your Customers See On the product page, if you're enabling **Customer selects mode**, the upload zone sits at the top with the effect picker just below it. In **Fixed effect** mode there's no picker at all — the effect is applied silently the moment the upload finishes. While an AI effect is generating, customers see a scanning animation across their photo. These effects will take a little longer than a normal upload.

## Good to Know * **Effects apply to images only.** Any option that accepts non-image file types can't use this feature. * **You're billed by your provider, not by Easify.** Each effect applied to a customer's photo uses one request on your own OpenAI, Black Forest Labs, Gemini, or Cutout.pro account. * **Changing effects after uploading re-runs the effect.** If a customer tries three styles on one photo, that's three requests — unless they return to one they've already tried, which is reused for free. * **AI output varies.** Two customers uploading identical photos with the same effect will get slightly different results. This is normal for AI generation and worth mentioning in your product description if exactness matters to your buyers. ## 💡 Our Recommendations We've tested the models across a range of customer photos. Here's what we'd suggest **(August 2026 Update)**: **Best quality: OpenAI — Image 2** * OpenAI's latest model comes at a good price and produces the effects that look the most identical to the customer's original image. * The trade-off is loading time — it takes noticeably longer to generate than the alternatives. **Best speed: Flux.2** * Flux.2 gives good quality with exceptional speed at a good price. * In our testing, though, it sometimes changes small details compared with the original photo. Worth a test run on your own product photos before you commit. **One thing that applies to every model** Images with many details take longer to generate. A busy group photo or a heavily textured image won't be as quick as a simple portrait on a plain background. Keep this in mind if your products attract complex uploads. ## Need Assistance? If you run into any issues setting up Image Effects or they aren't working as expected in your store, our support team is ready to help. Reach out anytime via the in-app live chat for prompt assistance!